Just The Beginning
by scifisarah
Summary: Set shortly after Something Wicca This Way Goes. Phoebe reflects on the day's events and gets a visit from the last person she expected. PhoebeCole oneshot.


Title: Just The Beginning

Fandom: Charmed

Characters/Pairings: Phoebe, Phoebe/Cole

Genre: General

Rating: T, just to be safe.

Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing them, please don't sue.

Summary: Set at the end of "Something Wicca This Way Goes." Phoebe reflects on the events of the day and then gets a visit from the last person she expected.

A/N: I swore I would never write P/C because the show ruined me on that pairing after the 15th time they killed Cole. Yet, here I am.I know this has been done a million times by writers far more talented than I but I couldn't get this idea to go away. Now, hopefully my muse will let me focus on my SGA story. :) Oh, and I know it doesn't say so(I couldn't find a good way to work it in) but in the hotel room scene Phoebe looks like Phoebe again.

A/N 2: This is un-betaed, just a warning.

**Just The Beginning**

She knew she should stay away, just to be sure they were safe and everyone had fallen for their ruse. Even if someone did see her it's not like they'd see the woman who had "died" that afternoon, but she still couldn't shake that feeling that everyone still saw Phoebe Halliwell, and not the woman she had glamoured into.

As she sat on the curb across the street from the only place she had ever known as home, misery ran through her as she realized this could be the last time she ever saw the manor. Every major event in her life had happened there. She had been born there, grown up there, had her first kiss on the front steps. It was in the attic that September night that she had released her and her sister's powers, binding them together and bringing them closer than they could have ever imagined. She had lost Prue there, delivered her nephew, and, according to Paige, had vanquished Cole there.

She knew what they had done was the right thing. There had been no other way and now they could all move on with their lives. But Phoebe couldn't help feeling like she had lost everything that day. She had lost her home, her job, her…life. Piper still had Leo and the boys, and Paige still had her whitelighter duties. What did she have? She was right back where she had started seven years ago.

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Later that night as she tossed and turned on the unfamiliar hotel bed she jerked up as she felt a presence enter the room. What, she lost her life and now she was going to have to deal with a ghost on the same day?

"Whoever you are, go away. I'm not in the mood." she called to the empty room before flopping back onto the bed.

After several minutes of trying to ignore the presence Phoebe threw off the blankets and sat up, shocked at what she saw.

"Hello Phoebe."

Regaining her composure, Phoebe instinctively pulled the blankets to her.

"Cole, what are you doing here? How are you here?"

"I'm here to help you."

"The best way you can help me is by leaving." Phoebe replied, but she knew he wouldn't listen. He didn't listen when he was alive, she knew the chances were slim he'd listen as a…whatever he was.

"Phoebe…I know what happened, and I know how you're feeling."

"How would you know?" she spat back.

"I love you, and more importantly, I know you. You feel lost, like everything you've worked so hard for has been ripped away from you again."

Shocked how he could still read her after so many years, Phoebe looked away and didn't reply.

"I know it seems like everything has been one disappointment after another. Jason, Leslie, Drake, your premonition about your daughter. Now, after all that, you've lost your home, your job, your identity. It's just one more huge disappointment."

"How do you know about all of that?" Phoebe replied, wide-eyed.

"Ask Piper. That's not important, what is important is you have to understand that this your chance, your opportunity to get everything you've ever wanted."

"How?"

"By opening yourself up Phoebe. When I first met you, you were so vibrant, so alive. That's what drew me to you. Since me you've closed yourself off. You're afraid of getting hurt, but that's a risk you have to be willing to take if you want to find everything you're hoping for."

Tears filled Phoebe's eyes as she listened to Cole. She had missed him more than she would ever be willing to admit and she was fighting the urge to throw herself into her arms even though she would go right through him. As he sat down on the side of the bed she was shocked to feel the bed sink under his weight. He was really here. As his hand cupped her face she closed her eyes and relished the all-too-familiar feelings the gesture brought to the surface.

"I don't know how." she whispered, still not opening her eyes.

"There is so much more waiting for you to discover, you just have to let me go, say goodbye, and move on. This is just the beginning."

Her need for him boiled over as she pulled her to him, reveling in the familiar feel of his lips on hers. Sinking back onto the bed Phoebe finally felt at peace as he gently climbed on top of her.

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Phoebe stretched luxuriantly as a warm feeling spread through her. As she opened her eyes she almost expected him to be lying there next to her. Instead there were no signs he had ever been there. But deep inside she knew he had. Sitting up she glanced over to the window and watched as the city was just waking up. He had been right, it was a beginning, an opportunity.

And she was going to make the most of it.

"Thank you Cole."

A/N: Well, there it is! Please review, I live for feedback!


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